atomic bomb

Those of you looking to change your career, here is an option to consider. Why not collect all those fancy minerals they use in an atomic bomb? It’s perfectly safe and easy for anyone to just pick up a shovel and start digging. You will be rich before you know it! What could possibly go wrong?

Worldcat shows only a handful of public libraries. Most holding are in university collections, especially those with technical programs related to engineering and mining. My copy looked like it had been doing field work given the condition of the cover and all the markings inside.

A few years ago we posted a similar book that had a more “get rich quick” tone compared to this book. I guess dropping the bomb is also a business opportunity in the making. I think these odd books have value just in the weirdness, and would probably be a fun display. Amateur mining sounds a bit outside the scope of my service population, however.

My generation was taught to hide under our school desk in order to dodge “the Bomb”. Every school kid practiced civil defense drills, just like a fire drill. Evidently your average school desk is resistant to atomic rays.

This book contains lots of helpful advice, from wearing a hat to prevent radiation to calculating the body count from the bomb’s epicenter. Even with some grisly death counts, the author assures us that “authorities” will still be in charge and that nuclear war is survivable. So pack your Geiger counter and hat so you can be ready when “the big one” comes.

Submitter: I think this is an awful library book due to the cover, and was during the time of the cold war which I think is reflected in the cover and in the book. But I have to say that this book, The Atom Bomb, by David Killingray the title and author is just perfect. I get a laugh every time I think about it. I am a reference librarian in a small community college in a rural area.

Holly: Ha! Killingray!

A historical book about the atom bomb is perfectly reasonable for a community college, but one that treats it as history – or which includes nuclear weapon threats of today – would be better than one from 1980. Mary loves this cold war stuff. Send it to her.